Orkney Museum, Tankerness House, Kirkwall
Mon-Sat, 1030–1700

Admission free

When the last of the islanders became too old to stay on Swona, they had to leave the cattle behind. Today the animals are flourishing, managing themselves as a herd and, remarkably, ancient ancestral behaviour patterns are returning, from the long-ago days before cattle were domesticated.

Photographer Josh Spindler joins archaeologist Prof. Ingrid Mainland in a study of the UK’s only truly wild cattle herd, isolated for over 50 years. Photography, bone scans, and lab imagery combine to explore themes of wilderness, adaptation, and human withdrawal.

John Spindler will be on hand at the exhibition to answer questions on the afternoons of Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September from 2 to 4 pm.

The project was made possible by the support of Orkney Islands Council’s Culture Fund.

Opens 4 September.

The story of the cattle will be told in a presentation on the morning of Saturday 5 September in the Orkney Theatre at 11.30 am. The Cattle of Swona, hosted by William Annal, features Alexander Annal and livestock expert John Copland, naturalist Penny Martin on island plant life, and Prof. Stephen Hall of the University of Lincoln. At 10 am that morning will be the premiere of the film by Selena S. Kuzman, Swona on a Morning Tide.